Wagner's
passional and intellectual exaltation and his mystic sensualism are
poured out like a fiery torrent, which sweeps away and burns all before
it, taking no heed of barriers. Such an art cannot be bound by ordinary
rules; it has no need to fear bad taste--and I commend it. But it is
easy to understand that other ideals exist, and that another art might
be as expressive by its proprieties and niceties as by its richness and
force. And this former art--our own--is not so much a reaction against
Wagnerian art as a reaction against its caricatures in France and the
consequent abuse of an ill-regulated power.
Genius has a right to be what it will--to trample underfoot, if it
wishes, taste and morals and the whole of society. But when those who
are not geniuses wish to do the same thing they only make themselves
ridiculous and odious. There have been too many monkey Wagners in
France. During the last ten or twenty years scarcely one French musician
has escaped Wagner's influence. One understands only too well the revolt
of the French mind, in the name of naturalness and good taste, against
exaggerations and extremes of passion, whether sincere or not.
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